Well I saw this recipe and thought I would give it a try. To be honest I have NEVER cooked with butternut squash before. In fact, before making this, I didn't even know what butternut squash tasted like. It was very unfortunate for me to learn that it in fact tastes like pumpkin.
I did have hope for this recipe though, because they make it at The Chef's Table. Where I went to college, if you dated someone with money, they took you to The Chef's Table. I never dated anyone with money so I've never been there. But for the sake of the monetarily elite, I thought I'd make this and pretend I have eaten at The Chef's Table.
2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil <- I used canola oil
2 Medium Onions, Small Dice
1 Butternut Squash, Peeled
2 Parsnips, Peeled
¼ Cup Maple Syrup- I used fake maple syrup with spenda in order not to send my husband's blood sugar through the roof (he has juvenile diabetes)
1 Cup Chicken Stock or Vegetable Stock
½ Cup Heavy Whipping Cream- I substituted this with a mixture of milk and butter. I found online somewhere someone had said it works as a good substitute. I probably should have used the real stuff.
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Nutmeg to taste
fresh ground Mace, to taste <- I couldn't find Mace at my grocery store (I didn't look that hard but I did look for a good 5 or so minutes) so I didn't add any to my soup
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Mix Butternut Squash & Parsnips with 2 Tablespoons of Vegetable Oil and Maple Syrup Place on Baking Sheet
Roast until soft, About 30 Minutes
Remove from heat and set aside
Heat 3 Tablespoons oil in a large soup pot
Add Onions and Cook until translucent
Add Cooked squash and parsnips to onions
Add Chicken Stock
Bring to a Simmer and Allow to Simmer for 15 Minutes
Add Whipping Cream, season to taste
Blend to Desired Consistency in a Blender (I used a food processor). The Smoother the Better for this Soup
Adjust Seasoning with Salt and Pepper, Nutmeg and Mace
Ok, the first challenge was peeling that butternut squash. So it's easier than I had prepared myself for but it took some time. It's like peeling a huge, tough potato. Then taking the seeds out of the middle reminded me of gutting a pumpkin.
Other than peeling the butternut squash, this recipe was not too complicated. It did take some time, though. And when my husband walked in from work he asked what we were having for dinner, I said "Butternut squash soup." He made this disgusted face and started looking through the mail. We had a few words after that, as both kids were at that time and had been for the last hour or two, standing at my ankles screaming.
The results. Well... it looked like orange mashed potatoes. In fact, I tried to get a good picture of it for this blog and I couldn't get it to look very appetizing. As far as the taste... well... if I liked pumpkins I'm sure this would have been a really good soup. Both my husband and I judged it as a "ehhhhh...." meal. Which means for all the effort it took to peel that butternut squash, I probably won't cook anything with a butternut squash again.
2 comments:
I love butternut squash and this sounds awful to me - but then I hate pumpkin - I don't even eat pumpkin pie! It sounds like someone tried to make up a recipe to make good squash taste like pumpkin. Let me tell you how we eat butternuts: seed them and bake. Treat the flesh like a potato. you can spoon it, cube it or mash it - just like potatoes. Some people use it to make 'pretty' mashed spuds by mixing it half and half with potatoes. We like those also. BUT - we REALLY like it with creamy chicken gravy - like you would use to make Hawaiian Haystacks. And we don't add anything but salt and pepper to that ... oh and butter - has to be real butter! ALWAYS
I will give that a try! I was just not a fan of this recipe. I did try a bite after baking the squash in maple syrup and it wasn't too bad. I could have done without the maple syrup though. So I will try butternut squash with gravy. Thanks!! =)
Post a Comment